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By Travis Steffen

I saw my first clip of a UFC fight at a friend’s house when I was 16. I emailed the owner of the gym, Pat Miletich (a former UFC champion and MMA legend) out of the blue. “I’m about to turn 17, and I want to come train at your gym!”

He chuckled. “Come on in.”

The next day, I started training with the same elite pros I idolized so much. Day after day, I got brutalized, but I kept coming back for more. For six years, I lived and breathed MMA. I had some success, a brief pro career and a stint fighting in Thailand. I even thought about dropping out of college to fight full time -- until Pat pulled me aside one day.

“Stay in school. Go to grad school if you can. Fighting will be here when you're done.”

(Pat, if you’re reading this, you’re likely the only one who could have changed my mind about this, and I wouldn’t be where I am now had you not done so. I owe you more than you know.)

About a year later, I woke up one day and decided never to fight again. People often ask me if I miss it. The answer is always the same: I definitely do -- but I don't regret the decision to retire.

Most people assume the fighters they see on TV are rich. A lot of lower-level fighters fight to be cool or to impress women, or think they'll be driving in a Benz like Jon Jones in a few short years. For 99% of fighters, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Successful fighters don't fight for the money. Most fighters -- even UFC pros -- need a day job to pay the bills, and they have close to zero job security. There’s really only one reason successful fighters fight: Because they’re obsessed with it.

Fighting is what gets them out of bed in the morning, and it's the last thing they think about before they shut their eyes at night. The feeling of making incremental progress day by day is infectious. It is their magnificent obsession.

When I was 20, I was broke living in a college apartment teaching MMA at a local gym while I finished grad school. Flipping through the channels, I ended up on the "TapouT" show – a reality show profiling three goofy-looking guys driving around in a bus promoting an MMA clothing line they started from the trunks of their cars.

I chuckled at this -- until I learned their line grossed $350 million the year before. That night after watching the TV show, inspired, I started my first company. A new "magnificent obsession" was getting me out of bed each morning.

As I pushed forward, I soon found that the lessons I learned from fighting were directly applicable to my new venture:

The "beatings" may be fundamentally different (often financial rather than physical) but they can be just as painful.

You have two choices: learn from your mistakes, or get knocked out.

Winners are always thinking three moves ahead.

You always go in with a game plan, but you also need to have the capacity and confidence to adapt on the fly.

Those who want to be successful in the long term only take fights when they're confident they have a legitimate shot at winning.

The feeling of making incremental progress is just as (if not more) infectious.

That said, there are a few notable differences too: As an entrepreneur, you're (usually) the ultimate master of your own destiny. There's a lot more money to be made if you devote yourself to learning and improving each day. And last but not least, you can keep going until you're old and grey -- and keep all your teeth in the process.

Fast forward to today. At 26, Dan Caldwell (from "TapouT") is one of my business partners and a good friend. I’ve started and sold four companies. And my exit strategy is always the same: As soon as I find that what I’m working on is no longer what gets me out of the bed in the morning, it’s time to sell and move onto the thing that I’m currently can’t stop thinking about. I’m obsessed with every venture I’m involved with -- or I move on. It’s as simple as that.

Not a day goes by that I don’t draw on all the lessons I learned coming up in the fight game, and I truly believe my experiences in it led me to discover the real secret to success -- finding your magnificent obsession.

What’s your magnificent 0bsession? Tweet it to me @TravisSteffen.

Travis Steffen is the founder of several startups and companies, including Cyber Superpowers.